Sunday, November 13, 2005

A day of rememberance - 1993 Bombay riots

There are a lot of news articles recently about the arrest and extradition to India of Abu Salem, for his role in the bombay serial blasts on March 12, 1993 which killed 257 people and injured 713 (source: Times of India).

This news is closer to home and heart as it rekindles memories of the bombay riots in 1993 which followed the babri masjid demolition in ayodhya on december 6 1992. The bombay riots which left more than a 1000 people dead and almost 3000 wounded was one of the worst communal riots affecting almost every suburb of bombay. This riot was also very eerily similar to the sikh riots and the gujrat riots to follow, where the police had an active role in firing on the innocent, turning a blind eye on the rioteers and supplying support and ammunition used in the murder of a lot of innocent people.

The Maharashtra government then rejected the report submitted by the Srikrishna commission set up to identify the principals in the riots including 24 counts of incitement and other charges against Bal Thackeray the head of the fascist Shiv Sena party - the governing party at that time.

None of the principal players in the riots from the Shiv Sena and the police named in the SriKrishna have been indicted and continue to be major power players in the local government.